There exists a door handle apparatus for a vehicle including a frame, which is fixed at a door panel of a vehicle door, and a handle, which serves as a holding portion when the vehicle door is operated to open and which is rotatably supported relative to the frame, so that the door handle apparatus transmits an operation force for canceling a retention of the vehicle door to a door lock mechanism, which retains the vehicle door in a fully-closed state, in response to a rotational operation of the handle (e.g. JP2006-37378A, JP2007-2621A, JP2008-50870A). According to the door handle apparatus for the vehicle having the above-mentioned configuration, an additional supporting member or a bearing member (a fixing piece) is provided at the frame at a connecting portion between the frame and the handle in order to reduce a backlash of the handle (e.g. a backlash of the handle in a longitudinal direction thereof).
However, according to the door handle apparatus for the vehicle disclosed in, for example, JP2006-37378A, JP2007-2621A and JP2008-50870A, the additional supporting member and the like needs to be provided at the frame at the connecting portion between the frame and the handle. Accordingly, a number of components used for the door handle apparatus and manufacturing hours for manufacturing the door handle apparatus may be increased. Specifically, according to the door handle apparatus for the vehicle disclosed in JP2006-37378A and JP2007-2621A, a connecting member (e.g. a bolt and the like) needs to be provided in order to attach the additional supporting member to the frame. Accordingly, the number of components and the manufacturing hours may be further increased.
A need thus exists to provide a door handle apparatus for a vehicle which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.